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When author Libby Sternberg comes to Bethany Beach Books on Sunday, Sept. 3, she will be signing copies of her latest book, “Fall from Grace,” a tale of redemption about a modern-day man from a famous evangelical Christian family whose indiscretions bring him and his family unwelcome scrutiny.

In an effort to support the grassroots organization Operation SEAs the Day, whose goal is to facilitate a beach week for wounded military service members and their families, local Realtor Allison Stine created the Cripple Creek Car Show.

Special to the Coastal Point • Christina Weaver : David and Karen Jayne sit at one of Karen Murray’s re-finished pieces of vintage furniture with pots of Debi’s Design Diary paint.Excitement is building at Jayne’s Reliable in Dagsboro.

In less than two weeks, Karen and David Jayne will be hosting a major DIY (do-it-yourself) event featuring YouTube sensation Debi Beard, known in the DIY world from Debi’s Design Diary.

Also present will be Josie Celio and Sally Griswold, the sisters who own Iron Orchid Designs, and Dionne Woods from Turquoise Iris. These names are celebrities amongst the many people who delight in painting, decorating and repurposing vintage and reclaimed furniture and architectural salvage.

Jayne’s Reliable has been selected from stores around the country that sell Debi’s Design Diary’s paint to hold its second DIY Traveling Show & Marketplace on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We are thrilled,” said Karen Jayne. “I attended Debi’s first one at her shop in Solana Beach, Calif. It was an amazing experience, and I learned so much. It’s a huge honor for us, located in small-town Delaware, to have been chosen. We can’t wait for our customers and DIY enthusiasts in our region to come and join in.”

Coastal Point photos • Tyler Valliant: Participants in South Bethany’s Annual Adopt-A-Canal End Contest pose for a photo at one of the canal ends.South Bethany is rewarding green behavior. For seven years now, the Annual Adopt-A-Canal End Contest has encouraged residents and property owners to help beautify their little corners of town, for the benefit of all.

Canal ends can be pleasant spots to rest and enjoy the water (from the land), so the Community Enhancement Committee encourages people to create small gardens, which then compete in a summertime beauty contest. Although there were only three winners, many volunteers dedicated hundreds of hours of hard work to landscape 34 different canal ends throughout town.

Lord’s Landscaping joined the winners and town officials on Aug. 18 to present gift certificates to the winning three.

Coastal Point • File Photo: Dancers from all over the country gather to dance during last year’s Nanticoke Indian Powwow.Dancers and vendors will travel from all over the country to Millsboro for the Nanticoke Indian Tribe’s 40th Annual Powwow on Saturday, Sept. 9, and Sunday, Sept. 10.

The theme for this year’s powwow is “The sacred fire that continues to burn within us.”

“We are celebrating our elders before us, those walking now and the generations to come,” said Nanticoke Indian Association Secretary Kayleigh Vickers.

The powwow is a family reunion for the Nanticoke tribe.

“We get to practice, see people and do things, traditionally, emotionally and spiritually, that we don’t always get to do,” said Vickers.

Coastal Point • Submitted: The Evans West house, built around 1901, is the future home of the Coastal Towns Museum in Ocean View and will be featured on the Ocean View Historical Society’s inaugural tour of historic homes on Oct. 7.As the century turned toward 1900, Ocean View newlywed Mary West Evans was given a piece of land on the corner of West and Oakwood Avenues by her father, Captain George H. West, who lived across the field (now a town park) in the Tunnell-West House, which was built circa 1850.

Mary West Evans and her husband, James Evans, a surfman at the Fenwick Island Lifesaving Station, built the stately gothic house, featuring pointed windows, angular roofline and corbels on the porch. It will be among the historic homes in the area featured on the Ocean View Historical Society’s inaugural Coastal Towns Historic Homes Tour on Saturday, Oct. 7.

The State of Delaware’s historic preservationists have dubbed the home “The Downton Abbey of Ocean View” because of its classic Victorian style, masterful woodworking, etched glass window on the original front door and other marvelously preserved features.

Coastal Point • Submitted: Mark Marvel and Phoebe Walls play serene sounds in the new musical duo Flute &amp;amp; Lute.How about a little night music? Flute & Lute is a new musical duo adding ambiance to special events. Flute & Lute is available for restaurants, private parties and wedding ceremonies. The musicians are guitarist Mark Marvel and flutist Phoebe Walls.

The pair will be in the dining room at Doyle’s restaurant in Selbyville on Saturday, Sept. 2, from 5 to 8 p.m.

It’s all instrumental — no singing. Some songs are classical, including Bach and Pachelbel, and others are classics, such as “Beyond the Sea” and “Moon River.” The musicians sway from the Beatles to the gentle ballads of John Denver and Celine Dion.

Indian River Inlet Bridge hosts eclipse viewing party

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: As crowds gathered around the nation to watch a solar eclipse on Monday, Aug. 21, the Indian River Inlet Bridge offered a picturesque backdrop.

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On Monday, Aug. 21, as the time drew closer to 2:46 p.m. — the “peak” eclipse time for the region — a steady stream of eclipse-watchers pulled in to the parking lots at the Indian River Inlet and began climbing the pedestrian path on the east side of the Indian River Inlet Bridge.

The Indian River School District has found some new eyes to look at the budget, and they’ve got some ideas. The Citizens Budget Oversight Committee convened on Aug. 21 for their first look at the IRSD’s proposed $151 million preliminary budget for the 2018 fiscal year.

State Sen. Gerald Hocker and Gov. John Carney on Aug. 16 invited a small group of local businesspeople to join them for lunch and a roundtable discussion on the state’s economy and their concerns about their individual businesses and beyond.

Coastal Point • Laura Walter: For her pageant platform, Ana Calles encourages people to volunteer for the causes they love.Ana Calles doesn’t mind driving two hours to Wilmington every week this summer. Hailing from Selbyville, she’s the only downstate contestant in the Miss Hispanic Delaware pageant.

“Honestly, it’s a big honor, and I feel very fortunate and blessed,” said Calles, 17. “I see how I’m the only one from lower Delaware. I don’t see that as an inconvenience to go all the way up there. I see it was an opportunity or a blessing. I think it’s special because it makes me stand out.”

She will represent Mexico in the Aug. 26 program, which celebrates Hispanic culture and is also designed to help young ladies develop poise and communication skills.

As a rising junior at Indian River High School, Calles said she has wanted to join the pageant for several years now. Calles has lived in Selbyville all her life, except for a few years in Mexico when she was younger.

She has the drive to compete, even hiring Uber rides to Wilmington, until teacher Lori Hudson put an end to that. Then, Hudson personally drove Calles to rehearsals and helped her with program sponsorships.

“She helps me with my schooling and everything. She’s really awesome, to be honest,” Calles said of Hudson. “She definitely goes out of her way, and she’s really there for me — almost in a way a mother would.”

The pageant began in 1972 and is celebrated with the Wilmington Hispanic Festival.

Pizzazz features unique décor and gifts in Fenwick

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: Pizzazz by the Bay owner Victoria Thanner in her Fenwick Island shop.This tiny shop in Fenwick Island is living up to its name. Pizzazz by the Bay isn’t trying to be the ordinary gift shop. Visitors and locals are coming there to find eclectic gifts and home décor by local artists.

Never behind the counter for very long, Victoria Thanner greets every customer with a smile. She loves being right there, helping them find the perfect item, or picturing it in their home.

With so many people still building and renovating in coastal Delaware, “I want to do something different … showcase local artists and pieces,” Thanner said. “People are looking for that ‘wow’ piece.”

Some of the more striking sculptures begin with driftwood: a gentle curving sailboat, a rough sea turtle and tall lamps strung with Edison bulbs and ship’s rope.

Coastal Point photos • Laura Walter: Cathy Martin serves chicken curry, next to a dish of chicken meatballs with smoked paprika tomato sauce.Libraries were never this delicious. But now people are turning on their tastebuds at the Selbyville Public Library.

Every month, the Eat & Greet Cookbook Club tries recipes from a new cookbook. Beforehand, anyone in the community can choose a recipe from a cookbook featured at the library. All the participants prepare a dish, and then they share a potluck dinner on the second Monday of each month. That night, people get to sample everyone’s cooking and take home the recipes.

It’s always a chance to try something new, and the group couldn’t name a recipe that they didn’t like.

In August, they tried “The Whole30 Cookbook,” a low-carb, high-flavor program by Melissa Hartwig. Recipes ranged from a classic slow-cooker chicken salad to an adventurous tomato-coconut curry chicken.

“I’m a basic person. This is my first time having [spaghetti] squash and cauliflower rice,” said librarian Ronshell “Shelly” Purnell, who roasted flavorful chicken thighs that night.

Sometimes it’s an intimate handful of cooks, while other nights are packed with a dozen or more cooks and dishes.

“It’s a nice way to meet people in your community,” said Cathy Martin. “It’s fun to get together and talk—”

Coastal Point • Submitted: The Salt Air Gardeners are members of the Delaware Federation of Garden Clubs. The club won an award from DNREC for their plantings at the Indian River Lifesaving Station earlier this year.Calling all gardeners and wannabe landscapers — the Delaware Federation of Garden Clubs is looking for you.

Next Wednesday, Aug. 30, the Delaware Federation of Garden Clubs will be hosting an informational meeting regarding joining or starting a garden club. The membership event will be held at the South Coastal Library in Bethany Beach from 6 to 7 p.m.

“There are so many new communities here, and I don’t even think they know that we exist down here,” said Lisa Arni, president of the federation. “I am finding through the Master Gardeners and other organizations that people are moving here and saying, ‘OK, I bought this new house and have the builder’s minimal package of plants, and I don’t know what to plant here because I’m new to Delaware.’

“They’d be really good candidates because they just moved here, they don’t know anybody, they would make new friends and learn about what to plant in their communities and in their gardens.”

Coastal Point • Submitted: The guest cottage behind the Selby Evans House was built around 1887.The Ocean View Historical Society will host its inaugural Coastal Towns Historic Homes Tour on Saturday, Oct. 7, featuring a number of historical homes in the area. One of the featured homes is located a 41 West Avenue in Ocean View. Selby Evans and his wife, Elizabeth Hall Evans, were the first residents of the picturesque colonial style home, which is currently owned by their great-granddaughter Barbara Slavin.

A letter from Selby to his son James mentions the lumber was purchased in Frankford for $300. While the house was originally just a parlor and dining room with two bedrooms above, indoor plumbing and a new kitchen were added in 1935. The first kitchen is now a guest house open for viewing in the landscaped back yard, which includes a gazebo and several cozy seating areas. Inside the home, original artwork abounds, including a Laura Hickman painting of the Evans-West House across the street, where James Evans lived after he married Mary West.

Coastal Point • Shaun M. Lambert: Special Olympics Delaware Summer Camp attendees try their hands at archery.Approximately 120 Special Olympics Delaware (SODE) athletes from across the state were able to enjoy a classic summer-camp experience this month at Camp Barnes near Bethany Beach.

“This is the 17th camp,” said Jon Buzby, director of media relations for SODE, who also helped start the camp. “When we started it 17 years ago, we developed it to truly fit into our mission, which is sports training. So, the athletes, when they came here, we did sports — we did volleyball, we did soccer, we did bocce, we did basketball. Everything we did was something they trained and competed in during the year.

“As time went on, what we realized is we were limiting the population that could come to camp because it was so strenuous, as the sports we were offering were more of our high-level sports. “

Buzby said the change-over to the typical summer experience was gradual, but while it was happening, the camp also grew.

The Fenwick Island Town Council has canceled its Aug. 25 public hearing and the council’s final vote on voter qualifications. In fact, the primary sponsor, Councilwoman Julie Lee, said she has decided to hit “pause” altogether on the proposed charter amendment. She said she may move to rescind the first reading from July.

Coastal Point • Maria Counts: Contractors for a Cause recently donated $3,000 to the Ocean View Historical Society.The Ocean View Historical Society is hoping to begin construction on its replica of Hall’s Store — a re-creation based on the general store that “gave rise” to the town of Ocean View — very soon, thanks to the continued support of Contractors for a Cause. The resulting structure will be a visitor’s center and education center, housing local artifacts, a meeting room, kitchenette and restrooms.

On Aug. 17, Mark Hardt, a charter member of and director of scholarships and membership for Contractors for a Cause, as well as co-owner of Miranda & Hardt Contracting, presented the society with a check for $3,000 from the non-profit.

A multi-jurisdictional investigation into an illegal drug trafficking organization, involving multiple subjects, conducted by the Delaware State Police and Delaware Department of Justice, has concluded with the arrest or indictment of 40 individuals on more than 190 criminal charges.

Following the receipt of numerous complaints regarding stolen lawn ornaments, the Ocean View Police Department and Delaware State Police Troop 4 were recently able to arrest Randy P. Holderbaum and Matthew L. Donoway, both of Frankford, in connection to the crimes.

Coastal Point • Submitted: The Dinker-Irvin cottage was moved earlier this year to its new location a few lots west. The cottage was recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places.Bethany Beach officials and former owners Christina and Clem Edgar were notified recently that the Dinker-Irvin Cottage has officially been listed in the National Register of Historic Places as of July 3.

The cottage, which was recently moved onto a Town-owned lot a few doors down the street from its nearly century-long location on Garfield Parkway Extended, was built by the Dinker family during the early days of the town’s founding and had previously served as the local post office for several years after its relocation to the Garfield Parkway Extended lot in the 1920s.

The Dinker-Irvin Cottage is in the process of being transformed into a town history museum and is now officially recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior as being part of that history itself.

“By this action, the Dinker-Irvin Cottage was recognized as being significant to the history of the Town of Bethany Beach, Sussex County, and the State of Delaware,” the announcement from Timothy A. Slavin, director of the State of Delaware’s Historical & Cultural Affairs department and state preservation officer.